CWC to meet on Apr 17 to discuss India's COVID situation

The Congress Working Committee will virtually meet on April 17 to discuss the COVID-19 situation in the country, party sources said on Wednesday.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi will chair the meeting that will be attended by former party chief Rahul Gandhi, general secretaries and other permanent invitees to the all-important body, they said.

According to the sources, the CWC will discuss the current COVID-19 situation in the country and steps that need to be taken urgently to check the further spread of the virus.

The highest decision-making body of the Congress is also likely to pass a resolution asking the government to take effective measures to contain the spread of coronavirus and provide vaccines for all along with financial support for the poor and oppressed sections, the sources said.

The Congress has been critical of the Modi government's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Recently, both Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking him to expand the country's vaccination drive against COVID-19.

The party leadership has also been demanding that the poor be provided cash to help them tide over the crisis.

India on Wednesday recorded the biggest daily jump of 1,84,372 COVID-19 cases that pushed the country's total tally to 1,38,73,825. With 1,027 new fatalities, the death toll surged to 1,72,085, according to Union health ministry data.

Registering a steady increase for the 35th straight day, the active cases in the country increased to 13,65,704, while the national recovery rate dropped to 88.92 per cent from 89.51 on Tuesday, the data showed.